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OT Washington Wine Region OT

Having gone to Napa and Sonoma a number of times my wife and I really enjoy visiting wineries and the surrounding areas. Now with a son going to school in Washington state in the Walla Walla area we are heading out for a week to visit. Have heard many good things about the wineries there but really know nothing about them. Anyone on the forum have experience in the area regarding which ones to visit, restaurants in the area, other activities, etc. We will be there six days so plenty of time to explore.

Comments

Past summer stopped at the Walls winery (SWMBO liked the label) and the Bombing Range brew pub (I liked the label) in the tri-cities area. Both were great, good food and beverage. Lots of wineries in the shadow of Hanford, claims to be Washington’s wine heartland. We are usually pulling the travel trailer and stop at many in the Wenatchee Valley farther north, have not had a bad experience anywhere east of the Cascades. Some wineries are dog friendly, big plus as our St Bernard is with us. We do tend to stick to pub grub, simple with a local twist and the cost is usually reasonable. The wine is good, tasting rooms are always friendly and like yourself, lots of folks who like to visit and try the local wines. In six days you can make a a small dent in the places available, at least a couple of hundred to choose from. Safe travels.

Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!

We are really looking forward to it. Seems like an incredible amount of small wineries in that area which are the kind we love to visit. As opposed to the big production places in Sonoma and Napa you can usually talk with the winemakers themselves at these places. And he is actually going to school at Whitman which is a small liberal arts school in Walla Walla. Beautiful area right near both Oregon and Idaho. Everything from Mountains to desert right by. Hoping the weather holds up for us as well.

I've visited Walla Walla a few times, check out Walla Walla Vintners https://www.wallawallavintners.com they are a small producer known for their Cabs and Syrahs. Downtown has changed over the past decade with more tasting rooms located there. Don't hesitate to make appointments, especially this time of the year, as you will be treated more seriously than the casual drinker. That last sentence applies to any wine region, all of the small producers in CA require appointments.

Thanks for the info. And we have taken that route mostly in Sonoma and in Oregon as well. Probably our favorite wine trip ever was to the Willamette Valley and a bunch of small Pinot Noir producers. Hoping this trip will be similar.

I'm not a fan of wine, so I'll tell you to go to Leavenworth, WA. https://leavenworth.org/ It is a German town in the mountains. I've been there 5 or 6 times for the sausages and beer. I highly recommend Munchen Haus and Rhein Haus as well as Icycle brewery. Not too far from WA wine country and beautiful scenery.

We landed into Walla Walla from NYC via Seattle on 9/15. A group of 8. In Walla Walla we stayed at the Abeja Farmhouse. We had the main house. The entire Farmhouse is spectacular. The have a variety of different properties depending on the number of people in the party. The breakfast each day is outstanding. Wineries we visited: Grossgrain - very new, young couple, invested a ton; Aluve - a very special couple investing very carefully. Both Air Force veterans. He flew F15’s and she flew the bigger guys and fueled him mid flight. We all loved spending time with them and hearing their life story. Leonetti - the first winery,I believe, in Walla Walla. Access due to contacts one of the group had. Very good. Corliss Estate - we visited the tasting room in Walla Walla vs the offsite winery. Dunham - again we were very well received. Pepperbridge - we sat on the terrace enjoying an incredible view and tasting wine. Superb. Finally and not least by any stretch Longshadow - where we had dinner. Exceptional food, people and views.

The following morning we flew back to Seattle and our connecting flight home to NY. We Uber’d into the City and bought Salmon and Halibut at the fish market, had it vacuum sealed, iced and boxed for the flight home.

Apart from meals at the Wineries we had a fun evening at the Walla Walla steak house - I remonstrated about their not being a visible BGE. We also found a Mexican food truck one lunch time and indulged - as well as a Mexican ‘hole in the wall’ which was equally as good.

I hope this helps with your upcoming trip. BTW we all ordered and had shipped way too much wine and look forward to enjoying it. Good luck to your son in College.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Trip went exceedingly well. Used Airbnb to stay the first few nights out in the wheat fields and the next few right near the winery Tranche where luck would have it my son had a friend working the tasting room.

Overall highly recommended area. Kind of reminded me of Sonoma back 30 years ago when my wife and I honeymooned there. Lots of smaller wineries with winemakers who really seem to care about the valley. Favorites were Saviah, Amavi, Tranche, Woodward Canyon and Valdemore where he had a wonderful lunch.